As London struggles to adapt to the reality of more frequent and powerful floods, its wealthier corners are emerging as some of the most at risk.
Last month in the affluent London neighborhood of South Hampstead, homeowners packed a community hall
for an event dedicated to preparing for the next big flood.
Attendees had good reason to be there. South Hampstead —where the average price for a home is over £1 million ($1.3 million) — stands out as one of the areas th
at was hard hit by flash floods in July 2021. Back then, a month’s worth of rainfall was dumped on London in just a fe
w hours. Some of the UK capital’s wealthiest neighborhoods — Kensington, Chelsea and Westminster — were among the worst affected.
It was a seismic event that altered peoples’ perceptions of what it means to live in London. Guy Meacock, a
director at UK property buying consultancy Prime Purchase, says flood in
surance for home-buyers “was just not talked about years ago.” But it’s “very much a real issue now.”
Homeowners living in some of London’s priciest real estate are now trying to figure out how more frequent and de
structive floods will affect both their access to insurance and their property values. That’s as rising temperatures affe
ct cloudburst patterns in ways that are exposing well-established urban areas with ageing Victorian-era infrastructure to unprecedented strains.
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A high-end property’s exclusive design can often amplify flood r
isks, says Rachel Gilliam, head of private clients at Lockton, an insurance broker. Sweeping driveways and hard-la
ndscaped city gardens increase water runoff. And below ground, luxury basements that house everything from super cars to art and technology are an added flood risk.
Gilliam, who declined to identify individual properties or clients by name, says she saw a single claim for
2021 flooding in the Notting Hill area for more than £600,000; another in Hampstead was over £1 million, she says.
Londoners are getting trapped not just by rapidly evolving weather patterns, but also by changes in regulations and shrinking access to insurance.
Meacock at Prime Purchase, who also declined to identify clients due to the sensitivity of the matter, says flood risk beca
me a dealbreaker for buyers he was advising on a multimillion-pound home in Wimbledon last year. The house, which
Meacock says had never been flooded, even had state-of-the-art flood protection, including underground pumps. But
it also had a basement, which was added as part of a major refurbishment in 2010.
Insurers walked away, deeming the property to be ineligible for cover by Flood Re, a government-backed reinsur
ance plan that isn’t available to properties built after 2009. The buyer
s tried 10 separate insurers via two brokers. Most of the time, Meacock says it was just a case of the “computer says no.”
After spending nearly £30,000 on legal and survey fees, the buyers fin
lly found an insurer willing to cover the house. By that stage, however, they were sufficiently unnerved to ultimat
ely opt for a different property without a basement, Meacock said. Now, every time he takes on a new clie
nt, he insists they check early on in the process to find out whether the property can be insured for flood risk.